League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus Counties, CA November 4, 2008 Election
	Candidates Answer Questions on the Issues Member of the State Assembly; District 17

The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of California and asked of all candidates for this office.     See below for questions on Budget Crisis, Education, Water, Health Insurance Click on a name for candidate information.   See also more information about this contest. 1. What does California need to do to address the current budget crisis? Answer from Jack M. Mobley: We need to reprioritize what government should be doing. There is not a revenue problem in this state, we have a spending problem. California's tax structure is one of the more oppressive in the country and we are losing businesses and good jobs primarily due to these onerous taxes and over regulation. We must stop taxing our citizens and businesses to death to pay for a failed education system, bloated social programs and an inefficient government. 2. What should the state's priorities be for K-12 education? For the Community College System? Answer from Jack M. Mobley: We need more local control over the educational dollars. The local school boards know the local issues and are professionals who should be able to spend the money where it needs to be spent and then held accountable for the outcome. In short, education is broken in Calfornia and we are not getting the results for the money. Not every child wants to go or will go to college and there should be pathways to prepare them to become productive workers immediately after high school. For the students who go to college, they need to be proficient in the subject matter. Too many high school graduates must take remedial courses in college in order to function at the college level. 3. What measures would you support to address California's water needs? Answer from Jack M. Mobley: In the short term we need to negotiate with the federal government to get relief from onerous EPA regulations so we can move more water to the Valley farmers. Agriculture is the backbone of our Valley economy and farmers are more important than fish. We need to take care of the environment but we can not allow the EPA to break the back of agriculture in California. In the longer term we need to address the question of storeage capacity. We need more in ground and above ground storeage so we can capture more of the snow melt. There would also be the benefit of more recreation and hydroelectric power. Steps should be taken to conserve in the southern part of California so less water needs to be moved down there. Additionally, desalientation methods should be investigated and incorporated where possible to provide more of the water needs for the folks on the coast. In the longer term we need to forecast what our needs will be 50 years from now and take steps to provide for that need so future generations are not in the same situation we are. 4. What should the Legislature be doing to address the needs of Californians without health insurance? Answer from Jack M. Mobley: We need to stop the abuse and fraud of the MediCal program from a provider and patient perspective. There should be open markets so insurance companies from outside CA can compete in this market. Tort reform to reduce the costs of litigation will reduce insurance premiums so more people can afford to buy insurance. People who are in this state illegally should not be eligible for state paid health care. If they are sick or injured they can go to an emergency room and be taken care of until they are well enough to be sent back to their home country. We also need to have people with even very modest means pay something for their medical care, even if it is $5 for an emergency room visit. If something is free, it has no value and will be abused. We need to sponsor more preventative programs so people don't get to the point where they need expensive retorative type treatment. I am not for a single payer system where the cost of health insurance is mandated to be paid for by someone's employer. Small businesses can not afford to provide this benefit and if forced to do so, many of those who can, will leave this state and take their jobs with them. Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  The order of the candidates is random and changes daily. Candidates who did not respond are not listed on this page.